To No Longer Be Alone
by SeraphDraconis
Summary: A mission gone wrong leaves Yohji wounded and Aya thinking over past advances made by the playboy. Warning: Shonnen-ai implications and original characters.


To No Longer Be Alone  
  
It was supposed to be a simple mission, but there had been a horrible mistake, it was nothing but a trap. Aya slumped against what was left of the wall letting one hand rest on Yohji's chest to follow the blonde's breathing. For the moment there was nothing else he could do, he sighed, nothing left to do but wait. He looked at the homing unit at his waist; its blinking red light was his only consolation now.  
  
That slim hope rested on the assumption that Omi and Ken made it out okay. The building had been wired with explosives cleverly done so that the collapse of the ceiling would pull the building in on itself. The collapse had been worst out here where the main ceiling supports were. He hoped Ken and Omi had succeeded in getting the computer files and got out through the back office in time. Aya didn't want to think about the possibility that they were crushed somewhere under the rubble surrounding them.  
  
This kind of waiting was killing him. Yohji hadn't regained consciousness yet and that worried the redhead. If only Yohji hadn't tried to be a hero and knocked Aya away from the crashing remnant of a support beam then he wouldn't have been hurt. Aya had stopped the bleeding as best he could, using his shirt and what was left of Yohji's as makeshift bandages.  
  
Gently brushing the blood matted locks away he checked the gash on the older Weiss' temple, " Why did you have to act the hero, huh? No one asked you to save me." The sound of his voice filled the small space he slumped in, but it offered him some solace to keep talking to his teammate.  
  
"Dammit, Yohji, why did you turn around, if you hadn't turned around you could have made it out. I never wanted anyone to get hurt for me, never. Don't die here. Please, Yohji, wake up!" Aya moved his hand to check the pulse at the blonde's throat, it was slow but steady. That was good, but was it too slow? Would Yohji wake up? Tears welled up in his eyes, " I'm sorry, Yohji," he whispered, "I am so sorry."  
  
Before the mission the last words he'd spoken to the flamboyant blond had been cruel and hateful. The words said in a heated moment left him avoiding Yohji up until it came time to leave on the mission. Tears slide down his cheeks, "I didn't mean what I said. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have lashed out like that, those words were lies, and I hate myself for ever saying them to you."  
  
The redhead moved to kneel by his teammate's side carefully checking the makeshift bandage. No more blood had seeped out, good, but had he lost too much already? The blow on Yohji's temple worried him, but it was the great hand long gash in his side that made him truly afraid. Satisfied, he moved his hand back up to the slowly moving chest; exhausted, Aya leaned back and closed his eyes.  
  
"I didn't mean it, Yohji. Not a word of what I said earlier is true. I could never hate you." As Aya sat dozing in their little niche the events from the past couple of months scrolled across his eyes.  
  
It had all started when he'd risen to the bait of Yohji's teasing one night after the blond made his usual late night return. He'd stayed up too late reading on the couch, it had been a book he just couldn't put down, when the playboy had come sauntering in swaying slightly from all the alcohol he'd consumed. For some odd reason Yohji stopped and perched on the back of the couch by Aya's shoulder instead of heading upstairs.  
  
"What, our fearless leader, home, alone, with a book! How unsurprising."  
  
"What of it, playboy?" growled the redhead turning a page and continuing to read.  
  
"Oh, come on, Aya, sometimes I wonder if you're still alive." Flicking idly at some of the pages of the book, "Does you blood run hot for anything other than revenge?" Moving to let his fingers graze Aya's jaw line, he let his voice drop to a sultry pitch, "You ever thought about curling up with something other than a book at night?"  
  
With an exasperated sigh Aya snapped his book shut and flowed to his feet knocking Yohji's hand away. " You're drunk and acting a fool, Kudou, go to bed." He stalked across the living room to the stairs hearing a sultry chuckle as he went upstairs, "Hard to get, I like that."  
  
That had been it until a few days later when he and Yohji had been working a shift alone in the shop. Aya suspected something from the smirk on the blonde's face as he sauntered in late as usual, but he just rolled his eyes and went back to the arrangement he was working on. Yohji had brushed past him, so close he felt the brush of the older man's leg against his and could smell the light musky scent of cologne. The swordsman sidestepped and growled, "Watch where the fuck you're going, Kudou."  
  
"Still playing hard to get, huh? Well, we'll see about that." A light-hearted laugh capped Yohji's response as he spent the rest of the shift trying to invade Aya's personal space and the redhead repeatedly sidling away or shoving the taller man back.  
  
The next few days he spent trying to dodge Yohji not wanting to play this new game of cat and mouse with his teammate. As long as Omi and Ken were around nothing really happened, he was relatively safe. Alone with the willowy young man it was getting harder and harder to avoid the playboy's physical presence.  
  
Aya invested a lot of effort in trying to keep his thoughts focused when working alone. But his resolution was weakening. Aya found himself thinking about the tall assassin's light musky scent, watching the long fingers manipulate flowers for an arrangement, becoming fascinated by the way how the long blond locks refused to stay tucked behind his ear when preoccupied at work. Little things really that never would have crossed his mind except Yohji kept teasing him, pressing against those personal boundaries.  
  
At work the redhead would feel the brush of Yohji's hand in passing. A glancing touch on the small of his back, fingertips grazing his arm, the nudge of his hip while they were working at the same table. Aya would shy away from meeting the emerald gaze, especially when the teasing comments accompanied that look. "So you gonna keep playing, Aya?", "Hmmm, warming up to me yet?" or even worse the purred "What will you do when I get tired of playing? How much fire do you have in your blood?"  
  
Then at night when the blond went out dressed for a good toss Aya couldn't resist the urge to still be up when Yohji returned. The playboy had stopped bringing conquests home, but this didn't settle the cold assassin's nerves. Often nothing more happened than the older man perching on the back of the couch smelling of smoke and alcohol looking over his shoulder at the book Aya was trying very hard to read. Sometimes there was the whispered "All alone again?"  
  
That husky whisper, when given, would be what would send Aya to his feet and out of the room. In the quiet of his own bedroom he would flop on his bed closing his eyes trying not to see Yohji. However the mind's eye is a tricky thing and left Aya with tantalizing new thoughts. The images would haunt the swordsman whether he lay staring at the ceiling or clenched his eyes shut willing the pictures gone.  
  
Groaning he tried to sleep, but his imagination wouldn't let him. That smell of smoke and alcohol, would it taste the same when kissed from the sexy blonde's skin? Imagining what it would feel like to run his hands over that lean body, feeling his face flush at the imagined touch. Those blond tresses that looked like silk, would they feel like silk when wound in between his fingers. Picturing himself leaning in to press his lips to Yohji's oh-so-sensual, sweet looking mouth sent blood rushing to other parts of the redhead's body making him squirm against the sheets. Clamping down on his runaway brain Aya refused to let himself undress his teammate any further in his mind. Tossing and turning in the bed he growled to himself, "There is no way in hell I'm letting Kudou know that he's gotten to me. I am not going to be playing his little game."  
  
The last night before the mission Yohji had gone out for his night of cavorting and Aya had stayed curled up on the couch. His fascination with the tall blonde kept him there until Yohji strolled in after two in the morning. The scent of alcohol and smoke clung around older assassin but the emerald eyes were still bright showing no signs of intoxication. A moment of trepidation flickered across the redhead's face before being buried behind the indifferent mask. The older assassin assumed his usual perch on the back of the couch.  
  
Carefully reaching over Yohji closed the book in Aya's hands sliding it from stunned fingers. "Tonight, my elusive one, I'm done playing." Then before he could react his chin was caught by willowy fingers and feather soft lips were pressed against his. He froze unable to accept this new turn of events. "Aya," his name was whispered against his lips, "I've tried to be patient." Violently, he knocked the lean blond away and jumped to his feet.  
  
"Stop it, Kudou. I am not playing your little game."  
  
"Come on, now. You going to try and tell me you weren't waiting up for me?"  
  
"No. I *was* waiting but it was because I was worried about you staggering in drunk in the early morning on a day when we have a mission to perform."  
  
"I think you're lying, either to yourself or to me." Slowly, like a giant cat, Yohji swung his feet over the back of the couch to stand in front of Aya. The long fingers snagged the belt loops on his pants and the redhead felt himself being tugged towards the predatory gaze that was focused down upon him.  
  
Fear flashed through Aya's body letting him react without thought. Tearing Yohji's hand from his waistband with one hand and landing a powerful slap across the blonde's face with the other. While the taller man staggered back to crash onto the couch Aya stalked over to the stairs. With his voice dripping venom he looked back at the playboy, " I told you I'm not playing games with you. Even if I wanted something like that, what makes you think I'd want you? Someone who runs around bedding anything with a pulse. I'd never be able to respect myself again. I can abide a playboy as a teammate, I'll be damned before I'd take one as a lover. I'd *hate* you as a lover."  
  
The redhead stomped up the stairs and slammed his door so hard that he never heard the soft reply to his tirade. "It was going to be different with you, Aya, this game I was playing for keeps."  
  
  
  
Aya awoke with a start his angry words rattling in his sleep fogged head. What had awakened him? He listened closely and thought he heard scraping sounds in the rubble, was that it then? The fingers on Yohji's chest clenched and he realized what it was that had roused him. The blond wasn't breathing, panicking Aya scrambled to put an ear to Yohji's chest. The heartbeat had gotten so faint it was barely there.  
  
Got to get him to breath again-- Aya put a hand on the back of Balinese's neck. Tilting his head back, he took a deep breath and sealed his lips to Yohji's. Holding him carefully the redhead expelled his breath into the unconscious man's lungs and pulled back for another breath. "Breathe, damn it," Aya murmured "Please, Yohji, live. Don't leave me." Long agonizing moments stretched out as Aya forced the air into the still form before him. After a still eternity a shuddering breath escaped the blond followed by a soft hiss as he inhaled.  
  
Aya knelt shaking as he looked down at the unconscious assassin. "I'll take it all back, please just wake up. If you don't wake up you'll never know how hard it was for me to walk away from you last night." Wrapping his arms around himself to keep from shaking he watched the rise and fall of Yohji's chest, "Dammit, why did you have to start this game? I can't afford to care about people, they always leave me. You kept pushing at the edges, I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to think about you. But I did and now, see what's happened; you're leaving me too."  
  
Wrapped in his own misery Aya almost didn't notice a dark head appear in a gap that opened in the rubble. Pain glazed eyes managed to form the appropriate scowl, "Who are you?"  
  
"Clean up crew," the raven-haired youth replied, then touching a comm unit by his ear. "Kestrel, we got 'em, will assess the situation and update."  
  
Shifting protectively and growling, "Who the fuck are you?"  
  
"Gull will work for now, Abyssinian," moving closer in the space, "Kestrel and I are sent in to help recover dangerous situations for Kritiker. Dead assassins don't worry us, it's the trapped alive ones that do."  
  
"Why should I believe you?" threatening as much as he could while staying between Gull and Yohji.  
  
"Because…" loud tinny voices leaked from Gull's ear piece and he winced pulling it off for a moment. "Because it's the truth for one, and for another Bombay and Siberian are driving Kestrel nuts out there. So will you please co-operate so we can all go home?"  
  
"What do you want then?"  
  
"Tell me what's wrong with Balinese," putting the comm unit back into place.  
  
Drawing a shuddering breath Aya summed up Yohji's injuries; blow to the head, unconsciousness, the gash on his side that was long and deep, when he'd stopped breathing. His terror at his teammate's condition was somewhat settled by the calm manner in which Gull backfired the report to Kestrel. Aya let himself slump to the floor not noticing the look of concern that came his way as Gull listened to the comm.  
  
"Yeah, I think we can. It'll be difficult but not impossible. Okay, get them calm and get ready," looking back at the crimson head before him. "Abyssinian?"  
  
Aya raised a weary head to meet Gull's dark gaze. Gull continued, "We've got to get him out through there." Aya's gaze followed the gesture to the hole in the rubble. "It's going to be tight and we might reopen the wound. Are you okay enough to help?"  
  
Feeling slightly insulted he growled an affirmative and they started to move. Slowly and carefully they lifted Yohji and crawled out of the rubble-strewn hole. There was only one moment where things could have gone horribly wrong. Aya and Gull were trying to lever Yohji over an up jutting piece of steel when Gull's footing slipped. They slid down the rubble, Gull twisting so that his legs scraped down the jagged edge but twisting to keep the blonde's back away from the sharp steel.   
  
After glancing to make sure his teammate had not been further injured he opened his mouth to make sure Gull was alright. The silence was broken by a frantic voice in Gull's ear. How Gull groaned and replied, "Don't worry about it, we're almost out. Just be prepared," puzzled Aya. He frowned but didn't remark on the coincidence as they resumed the slow crawl out in silence again as the raven-haired boy chewed on his lip against the aches.  
  
When they emerged into the brisk night air they were almost overwhelmed by an ecstatic Omi and Ken. They were saved, in a sense, by raven-haired lass with angry blue eyes. The first words Aya heard from her mouth were snarled at the two youngest Weiss, "Move. Now."  
  
"Kestrel," Gull rolled his eyes and the tone expressed the weariness of having been used too often.  
  
"Idiot," was the only reply the boy was given before she continued in a softer tone. "Lay him down, carefully."  
  
As they complied she knelt down by Yohji's side opening a black case that revealed a rather expansive yet compact medical kit. Kestrel worried her lower lip between her teeth just like her twin as she began her ministrations on the unconscious assassin. She carefully pulled away the makeshift bandage from the long gash letting a small hiss of dismay escape as she saw the damage.  
  
"Does she know what she's doing?" Aya asked tersely.  
  
He was rewarded with Kestrel's head snapping up to regard him, meeting his glare with one of her own, "She does. Now why don't you boys behave and go play over there while she works?"  
  
Gull turned to gesture the others a few paces away. He lightly touched Aya's arm to encourage him to leave Kestrel to work. They were stopped for a moment by Kestrel's curt, "Gull." The blue-eyed youth turned to catch a roll of gauze and bottle of antiseptic that had been cast in their direction. Both items in hand, Gull muttered an "I know" and moved over to sit on the ground by Ken and Omi. As the young man began tearing away cloth to get to his gashed legs the called back, "Look, Abyssinian, lurking over her won't help, come away before she gets crankier."  
  
Growling Aya stood over Gull glaring at Kestrel as she moved deft hands over the gash muttering nonsense. After several long moments she reached into the kit and pulled out more antiseptic and gauze as well as needle and thread. In a remarkably short time the blonde's side was stitched and bandaged again. He shifted and growled lightly as Kestrel now moved to run her fingers over Yohji's skull probing at the wound there. Aya was aware of a tugging at his leg, looking down he saw Gull offering him the antiseptic.   
  
"Take it and use it. You probably don't want Kestrel poking at your scratches," hissing he tightened the gauze around the bloody gashes. Gull muttered, "I know, you'll look at them later"  
  
Aya hid his confusion at the last statement under a glare as he turned back toward the silent girl who had paused to glare at them. Not wanting to question he took the antiseptic and began to smear it on his cuts continuing to glare at Kestrel as she resumed tending his teammate. She had peeled back Yohji's eyelids and was looking into his eyes. Letting them glide back shut she started muttering more nonsense as she poked at the injury. Reaching for more antiseptic and gauze she murmured, "Almost done."   
  
Looking up at the rest of Weiss, "I can't do anymore. The stitches will be fine to take out in a week or so, but if he doesn't regain consciousness in 24 hours then you have to get him to a doctor."  
  
"What the hell," Aya snarled. "Why didn't we just do that to begin with?"  
  
Kestrel's eyes flashed, but it was Gull's calm voice that replied, "Because, Kestrel has a knack at healing that doctors don't possess and it might be the only thing that helps your friend wake up at all after suffering through that."  
  
Listlessly Kestrel gathered up her med kit and brought her eyes up to Gull's, "Let's go home now."  
  
As the Weiss boys moved over to Yohji's prone form Kestrel and Gull levered themselves to their feet. Draping an arm around his sister's shoulders they turned matching eyes in matching faces to stare at Weiss. "Everything should be fine," Kestrel said looking deep into Aya's eyes, "Just take care of him, and watch him closely."  
  
Gull managed a weak smile, "Just care for him, simple huh? Perhaps we'll see you again… Goodbye." Turning away he steered the girl away while she gave one last glare at Aya he could almost hear and unspoken parting shot, "YOU had better take good care of him."  
  
Turning his back on the raven-haired twins Aya looked down at Yohji. Ken and Omi hovered over the oldest Weiss holding back from touching him as if afraid their touch might damage him further. While no one was looking at him, Aya felt his eyes brim with tears; he didn't want to start crying again. He might be imagining it but the blond looked better. There was more color in his face and the breathing wasn't as shallow and labored. Maybe, just maybe, everything would be alright after all.  
  
Aya knelt down between Omi and Ken softly commanding, "Let's go." With infinite care the swordsman slipped one hand under Yohji's back cradling the bandaged head on his shoulder and placed his other hand under the long legs. Lifting the tall form Aya turned to go back to the apartments; no one questioned his carrying the blond and wouldn't have been a good idea if they had. Injured or not, Aya felt responsible for the wounds Yohji had taken and he wasn't in the mood for questioning.  
  
It was a long and silent trip back home, Ken looked as though he wanted to say something but never did. Omi just looked as though he would start crying every time he looked at the oldest Weiss. By the time they got home Aya's nerves were almost too frayed for him to keep the mask of indifference. After carefully tucking the lean youth into his bed all three just stood there not saying anything. A few moments passed before he shrugged out of his battered coat and lay it and the katana by the door. Shirtless and frowning he sat in a chair by the window staring at the form in the bed.  
  
Ken and Omi shared a worried look as they took in the scrapes and cuts that made up the extent of Aya's injuries. "Umm, Aya, do you…" was all Ken could get out before he was cut off.  
  
"No. Go, Ken."  
  
Ken shot one more concerned look at Omi that the redhead never saw. Omi shrugged and indicated that Ken should go on, while the small blond promptly took a seat on the foot of Yohji's bed. He ignored the sullen man across the room for over half an hour of tense silence; finally Omi caved and mumbled, "Can I get you anything, Aya?"  
  
"Hnn… a shirt," violet eyes never flickered from Yohji's face.  
  
Omi quietly fetched the shirt and as he handed to the stoic assassin he whispered, "You should try and rest, Aya."  
  
"So should you," was the growled response and that forbade any further discussion.  
  
In the half-light that precedes the dawn Yohji's eyelids flickered open and a wistful question hissed out barely reaching Omi's ears, "Aya?"  
  
Omi clutched Yohji's hand, it was warm, that was good, "It's okay, he's right here…" looking over his shoulder he saw the Weiss leader slumped in the chair sound asleep. "Sorry, Yohji, but he's… ah, forget it." The blond had already slipped back into unconsciousness. Omi didn't worry though, after all Yohji had woken up, and that was a very good sign.  
  
Aya jerked awake and winced at his stiff back; he had been sleeping in the most uncomfortable of positions. His eyes automatically tracked to Yohji's face and he couldn't help the relieved sigh that escaped his lips. Omi turned from his perch on the bed smiling at the redhead weakly. "Oh, Aya, I'm so glad you're awake. Yohji asked for you." The youngest of the Weiss was grinning but the blood-shot eyes told of a teary wakeful night spent next to the sickbed.  
  
Keeping his face a blank mask, Aya fought the swirl of emotions that were tugging at him. A fleeting touch of guilt that Omi had sat awake and alone all night. A stab of jealousy that he had not been the one to see Yohji wake. Mostly there was relief washing through him that the blond had awakened. Then there was that quirk of surprise that was hidden behind the impassive voice, "Yohji asked for me?"  
  
Omi nodded stifling a yawn, "Uh-huh, 'bout 2 hours ago."  
  
"He was actually awake?" Aya couldn't help but doubt that everything might turn out alright after last night's fiasco.  
  
"Yep, but only for a moment then he went right back to sleep."  
  
"Aya felt his insides clench, only for a moment-- what if Yohji hadn't really been awake at all? What if Omi had imagined it? What if the blond never opened his eyes again? The what ifs threatened to overwhelm his thoughts until he remembered an unspoken threat. "YOU had better take good care of him." A fierce resolve swept through the youth, I will take care of him, and I'll tell him the truth. I'll see that he gets better and I will apologize to him. All of the what ifs retreated as Aya regained control of his thoughts.  
  
"Go to bed, Omi," he ordered.  
  
"But Aya…"  
  
"No buts. You're exhausted and I'm awake now. I'll sit with Yohji."  
  
For a moment it looked as if Omi was torn between arguing to stay and giving in to the lure of sleep. In the end sleep won and the boy stood up stretching tired muscles. As he walked toward the door he got in one last request, "Okay, but if you need anything…"  
  
Aya waved his hand dismissively and watched the teen shuffle out. After a few more moments without a sound he got up from the chair and gingerly settled on the edge of the bed. Avidly he studied the sleeping figure and found himself relieved at the changes in his teammate.  
  
There was color in the playboy's cheeks and lips, the deathly pallor was gone. His chest rose and fell steadily in the slow, deep rhythms of sleep. Reaching out a hesitant hand Aya brushed Yohji's hair aside to lay a hand on his forehead. The skin there was not cool to the touch, nor was it fevered; it felt… normal. The swordsman sighed his relief and moved his hand down to Yohji's chest laying it over the blonde's heart. He stared at nothing while he concentrated on feeling the muted pulse and the gentle rise and fall of breathing.  
  
"Damn you, Yohji Kudou, why did I let you get to me?" Eyes lost in the distance Aya continued the monologue more for his own comfort than for the blonde's benefit. "Do you realize how much easier it was for me to not let anyone in? Everyone I've ever loved has left me, why did you have to push at those boundaries? Why did you start that ridiculous game of teasing me? I can't care about anyone else; just Aya and revenge that is all I can have the heart for. I'll shatter if I get hurt anymore, I just can't keep losing people."  
  
Sighing sadly, "But you didn't know that. So you started this silly game without a second thought. Just a game for you, a challenge, try to get under Aya's skin; what a fun game for you, but a dangerous one for me. I didn't want to take a second look, you made me do it without even really trying."  
  
"The brush of your hand, it was a thing I had to shut away. No one touches me anymore, no one gets that close and that way I don't get hurt. That silly, sexy grin of yours… always flirting, always so sure of yourself. I loved it. I denied it every time it crossed my mind. I couldn't like you, you're flippant and loose, just out for a good time. I tried to tell myself that I didn't want that, that I couldn't possibly want you. So carefree as to appear careless it made it impossible to believe that there could be anything behind your flirting."  
  
Unconsciously Aya clenched his fingers tightening the fabric of the shirt under his hand. He was still caught up in his rambling that he never noticed the blonde's eyes flutter open. "It was so hard to walk away from you the other night." A soft self-deprecating laugh escaped the tense lips. "What I said then, those words were my shield. I spoke in anger, and I'll even admit that I spoke in fear, but it was a lie when I said that I would hate you. I could never hate you… do you know that? Probably not. I've locked up my heart, I had to. If I'm going to always be left alone I can't have feelings, it hurts too much. I'm tired of hurting."  
  
Violet eyes were slowly closed as Aya rambled on, "Every touch, every coy remark tapped away at my only protection. I can't care about you because you're just going to leave me. Your silly, stupid, reckless game, you got to me Kudou, I hope you're happy. But I know better than to let you know, I'll take back those cold words I said, but let me have my shield intact. If I let you know I cared you'd get tired of your game and move on to your next conquest. Better to hurt now and stay alone then take that chance. Eventually you'd leave just like everyone else I ever cared about. Everyone leaves me…" Emerald eyes rippled with emotions; understanding, sympathy, and something warmer and deeper at the anguish in Aya's words.  
  
Aya's head was bowed and his eyes remained closed as he sat in his own personal misery. It took a long minute for him to feel the long fingers that curled around the hand on the blonde's chest. Violet eyes snapped open wide to the sight of Yohji dragging the captured hand up to place a warm kiss on the palm.  
  
"Aya," the name was whispered against the captured palm, the tone was chiding and sultry all at once. The redhead froze, shaken to be caught rambling the words that normally echoed silently in his head.  
  
"This is no game, Aya. I'm not going anywhere." Yohji gently tugged the hand he'd captured lowering Aya's support until his face was a scant hand's breath from the playboy's. The husky voice continued to whisper, "It was never a game with you. I'm sorry it wasn't clear enough for you," a wicked smile curled up the corners of the sensual mouth, "but how could you think I'd play such a dangerous game with someone who could slice me to ribbons?"  
  
The blush that crept up the swordsman's checks was enough to rival his vibrant hair, "Yohji, you're supposed to be sleeping."  
  
"And miss hearing how your mind really works? Un-uh." The blond kept the playful smile but the emerald gaze was serious, "No games now, it's just you and me here, and I plan on being around for more of those enlightening rambling fits. I am so not leaving."  
  
Another gentle tug on the captured hand brought Aya's lips down the remaining few inches until they were pressed firmly to the blonde's own. The younger man stiffened for a moment fear of all the things he'd tried so hard to lock away coursed through his blood. But then the moment was gone and the more experienced blond gently encouraged him to open up to the kiss. At the release from that fear everything else ceased to exist for the swordsman. The sensations that were locked into that kiss floored Aya. At first it was like warm, soft velvet and then with the brush of Yohji's tongue against his fire flooded through his blood stealing his will to move.  
  
Heat like none he'd ever felt before lit up Aya. It was just a kiss but he could feel everything that went unsaid in those moments. He heart thudded heavily in his chest until he became so lightheaded that he needed to break the kiss to recapture his breath. "Yohji?" Aya whispered, hesitant.  
  
"Shhh," a long finger was pressed to the passion-blushed lips. "Listen to me, Aya, I..am..not..going..anywhere. Did you ever think I might be tired of being alone too?"  
  
A moment of confusion filled violet eyes, "But you always have someone with you…"  
  
"Taking someone to bed doesn't stop you from being alone." Brushing fingers down from his lips to over Aya's heart, "I want to feel something here again. You'd captured my attention from the get go, but recently I started really looking at you, Aya. You're always alone and I found that it bothered me." Grinning sheepishly, "Imagine that, Yohji Kudou has feelings not related to sex, smoking, or drinking. Stranger things have happened, right?"  
  
The cold façade that Aya usually wore appeared, "No games, you're in no condition to be playing these tail-chasing games right now."  
  
"Nope," the injured assassin purred, "No games, I simply want you." Yohji other hand came up to cup the side of Aya's face pulling it back down for another searing kiss.  
  
The minutes stretched as the two assassins slowly explored the sensations of lips and tongues as they tasted one another. Aya relaxed and allowed Yohji to tug him down to rest along the blonde's uninjured side. His mind whirled, it would be so easy to just give in, just accept the blonde's attention, but what if Yohji were wrong what if he did leave? Would it have been worth it for a few moments of not being alone?  
  
Yohji broke the kiss to look into the violet depths feeling the tension that still trembled through Aya's frame. The doubts that the swordsman would never voice were clear as he gazed down at the older man. Long arms gently snaked around the tense form and pressed him closer, "I'm not going anywhere, how 'bout you?"  
  
"No," was whispered softly as Aya completely relaxed against the lean body that held him, resting his head on Yohji's shoulder. "I don't want to be alone anymore."  
  
Laying there together they didn't have to talk, there would be time enough for that later. For the first time in a long time Aya had found a moment of peace; whatever else there was in store for him were worries to be saved for another day. Both assassins were easily lulled into sleep secure in the presence of the other and the knowledge that they were no longer alone.  
  
[ Optional Epilogue ]  
  
[one week later]  
  
If Ken and Omi were surprised at the change in the dynamics between the two oldest Weiss they hid it well. The entire time Yohji had been confined to his bed Aya rarely left his side. Once it was apparent that the blond was on the mend the change was made visible by the fact that the impassive Aya actually smiled at the blond.  
  
After a couple of days of grumbling of nothing to do in bed, it was decided that a week of bed rest made Yohji fit to tend the till in the shop. After all, the rest of the boys couldn't have their teammate die of boredom, Yohji however began to grumble about preferring to die from boredom. Luckily for the lazy assassin it was a slow day with just Aya and himself tending the shop and for the moment lounging against the counter. The chime of the door broke the two out of the quite conversation they had been enjoying.  
  
Standing in the doorway were two people, a youth dressed in slacks and a t-shirt and young woman in a pale blue sundress. Their matching faces clued Aya in immediately to who they were, even if the greeting scowl that he received from the girl didn't. "Hello," was cheerfully tossed out by the raven-haired youth as he forcefully steered his sister closer to the counter.  
  
"What are you two doing here?" Aya's voice held a note of threat that caused Yohji to tense up next to his teammate.  
  
Making a negative motion with his hand, "No harm. We just came to see that everything was alright. Lyssa was worried about the stitches."  
  
Kestrel, growled, not liking how friendly her brother was being with the other assassins, "Was not."  
  
Yohji looked at Aya brow furrowed with the unspoken question. Aya sighed and indicated the twins, "They were the two that were sent to help recover the situation last week, Gull and Kestrel."   
  
Kestrel snorted and shook head, her brother murmured, "Alex and Alyssa is what we prefer during the daylight hours."  
  
Yohji grinned regardless of the dagger-looks going between Kestrel and Aya, "Well, then it looks like I owe you a debt of thanks for saving my life."  
  
"Hmmph," Kestrel grumbled, "Let me see the stitches." Without waiting for any further go ahead she moved around the counter to tug at Yohji's shirt ignoring the menace in Aya's stance as she began to examine the wounds.  
  
Just as Aya turned to stop the girl from touching his Yohji he felt a sharp tug at his wrist without anything being there to touch him. Instinct caused him to look up and meet Gull's blue gaze.  
  
"The quicker you let her get this done, the quicker we get out of here." Something in Gull's tone reached through the redhead's inflamed senses and made it clear that manhandling the youth's sister would not be tolerated. Aya frowned not understanding a lot of things about these two, but accepting the idea of getting them out quickly.  
  
Yohji was being a good patient as Kestrel poked gently at the red newly healed flesh. Glancing over her shoulder she told them, "This has healed better than I could have imagined. The interior is almost completely healed and the upper epidermis is already nicely sealed with a small amount of scarring. Alex…" Her eyes flicked back to the stitches.  
  
"Done," was mumbled and almost buried under Yohji's shocked gasp. Kestrel pressed one hand to the spot on the back, while the other hand dropped the accumulation of stitches into the trashcan under the counter.  
  
"Good, let's go," without a backwards glance Kestrel breezed toward the door. Gull nodded amiably to each of the Weiss and followed his sister.   
  
Yohji was running a hand over the tender patch of skin feeling nothing but a thin scar, no pain and no blood from the sensation of the stitches being ripped out. Aya's confusion was only for the blonde's eyes, when he turned an indifferent face to the twins at the door. Gull had his arm around Kestrel's shoulders and gave a cheery, "Goodbye."  
  
His sister glared right back at Aya and he thought he could hear the unspoken voice again, "Good, now maybe you two can take care of each other."  
  
With that the twins stepped out onto the sidewalk and disappeared in a swirl of people. Puzzled, Aya leaned against his beau allowing the blond to wrap an arm around his waist.   
  
"Something wrong?" Yohji muttered into the crimson hair.  
  
Shaking his head and pushing the oddities in the meeting to the back of his mind he focused on the handsome man next to him. "No, nothing wrong, just thinking…" Turning his head to capture the velvet lips of the older Weiss, Aya allowed his mind to drift to much more pleasant thoughts of how they could take care of each other.  
  
FIN 


End file.
